Language Access Plan for Article 80
The Planning Department is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment that is free of discrimination and in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws for all persons that the Agency engages with in all of its programs and activities. In March 2021, the BPDA Board adopted a Language Access Plan (LAP), furthering this commitment and outlining the steps involved in ensuring that persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) have meaningful access to planning and development review public processes. LEP individuals are those who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English. Additional information is available in the Board Memo related to the Language Access Plan.
Article 80 Language Access
Project Proponents (Proponent) for Boston Zoning Code Article 80B (Large Project) and 80C (Planned Development Area) projects are required to take reasonable steps to provide LEP persons meaningful opportunities to be informed of and participate in the Article 80 development review process. This includes creating, implementing, and submitting for staff approval a Project-specific Language Access Plan (PLAP) with the Letter of Intent for Large Project Review (80B) or filed plan for Planned Development Area Review (80C), including Master Plan Planned Development Area, (collectively, PDA), as relevant. This also includes creating and submitting Project Fact Sheets at the time of filing for Vital Documents as applicable, described in the Guidance below.
Project-specific Language Access Plan (PLAP)
The Project-specific LAP (PLAP) should outline the Proponents’ strategies for community engagement and inclusion in line with the guidance provided here and be publicly disseminated prior to or concurrent with the Letter of Intent or PDA filing, as relevant. Proponents of projects and PDAs are also required to include a plan to provide interpreters for all public meetings. The PLAP should be developed in consultation with staff and submitted in the form of a completed Checklist following the template provided below.
Project Fact Sheets for Vital Documents
As part of the PLAP implementation, Proponents will be required to provide translation in all Threshold Languages of filing documents and meeting materials that are part of the Article 80 review process. Each Vital Document filing should be accompanied by a full translation or Project Fact Sheet translated into all Threshold Languages relevant to the project. For documents that do not require a full translation, the filing should be accompanied by a Project Fact Sheet created using the template linked below. Please see the Guidance document linked above for a full list of Vital Documents by project type.
Project Fact Sheet Templates